THE MEN at the Garrison (1197 Dundas West), tonight (Thursday, June 14), 1 am, $15 or NXNE wristband at El Gordo’s Backyard (214 Augusta), Friday (June 15), 1-10 pm, $10 and at Wrongbar (1279 Queen West), Friday (June 15), midnight, NXNE wristband/pass only. nxne.com.
The phrase “Brooklyn-based indie rock band” conjures images of glockenspiels, skinny jeans and fleeting blog buzz, but the Men don’t fit that description.
They hail from the hippest borough, sure, and don’t have help from a major label, but they hearken back to an era when “indie” was a mindset rather than a genre, shorthand for “independent” music that still had at least one foot in the DIY ethos of 80s hardcore.
“A lot of people compare us to bands like Fugazi and the Replacements, which is flattering, but I think if anything we’re more aligned [with them] in spirit than sound,” Men guitarist Mark Perro shouts from a cab in New York. “We’re definitely into that punk rock mentality of going out there and touring, making things happen for yourself rather than waiting for someone to provide it all for you.”
A string of self-released albums and EPs kept the band on the dive bar and house party circuit until last year’s Leave Home and its recent follow-up, Open Your Heart (both released on Sacred Bones), put them on the radar of music fans with a thirst for intensity, hooky, guitar-driven songcraft and indie rock that actually rocks.
Three out of four members write songs, and everyone sings, so they’re just as likely to follow a skewed Sonic Youth instrumental epic with a singalong Buzzcocks power pop number as they are a throat-shredding hardcore track with an acoustic country ballad.
“The term ‘experimental’ has all these stigmas, but it can just mean trying something new or different,” explains Perro. “We’re not trying to make it cohesive or make it not cohesive. We’re just trying to play songs that excite us. I guess to some people that might sound a bit all over the place, but to us it just sounds like the Men.”
As their unassuming, ungoogleable name suggests, the Men aren’t precious about what they do, despite doing it well. They don’t even have a frontman.
“It was a very conscious decision to leave the idea of the individual behind,” says Perro. “We try to be open to each other’s ideas to achieve something that’s greater than each one of us. Ego won’t get us anywhere.”
Interview Clips
Perro expands on how, despite having three distinct songwriters, no one member of the Men considers any given song “theirs.”
Open Your Heart is only a few months old, but the Men have already recorded the follow-up, due out early next year. Here, Perro claims that they’re heading into a more melodic, almost countryish direction, but that live they’re currently the loudest they’ve always been.
music@nowtoronto.com | twitter.com/nowtorontomusic
